Written Among the Stars
by Red Nightmare14
Summary: Soulmate AU where the name of your soulmate appears on your wrist on your 18th birthday. This is a uniquely human phenomenon, but if the soulmate is an alien they also get a soul mark.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: For clarification, the mark appears on your dominant wrist (so Ben's would be on his left, since he reached out for the Omnitrix in the first episode of the original series with his left hand).**

 **Rook is three years older than Ben in this fic. I came to this conclusion as notes on the episode 'Clyde Five' says that Clyde has to finish high school (which is when your 18 years old in the US) before joining the Plumber Academy. So we can assume that only legal adults can become Plumbers. However in the Ultimate Alien episode 'Basic Training', Ben and Gwen were able to graduate at the age of 16 (and Kevin at 17). I'm guessing this is because they were already honorary Plumbers (as Kevin and Gwen were given Plumber Badges by Magister Prior Gilhil in 'Darkstar Rising') and they were allowed to take Plumber training early due to them basically being Earth's Plumbers (Magister Gilhil made them the quote "only law enforcement in this quadrant"). However, as Rook is from Revonnah he would have to be of legal age to start Plumber training. It only took Ben, Gwen and Kevin a few weeks to graduate Plumbers Academy, but since they had been 'training' since they were 10/11 I would guess that they wouldn't have had to take the full course. Rook, meanwhile, would probably have had to take the full course which I've narrowed down to being about a year long, so he would have been about 18-20 years old when he graduated depending on when he began Plumber training. Since Rook was in training the same time the Vreedle brothers blew up the Academy (mentioned in 'So Long, and Thanks for All the Smoothies) and took his final exam at around the same time, I'm putting him in the middle range for this estimate. So in this fic, Rook is 19.**

* * *

It was a surprise for Blonko when he woke up on the morning of his of-age day of birth to find the fur on his right wrist burned away, leaving only a few unfamiliar letters in its place. The responding cry had woken his family and Father took him to the Elders to find a reasonable explanation for the strange occurrence (Young One's answer of 'soulmates' – which he had found on the Extranet – had been quickly put down). When the Elders had come up with nothing, Father, rather reluctantly, took him to Sheriff Wat-Senn to see if the burn had been caused by an offworlder like a Pyronite.

Sheriff Wat-Senn took one look at the burn and had laughed. He then began an extremely long explanation into the 'soulmate' matter that Young One had mentioned, although very little of it made sense to Blonko. Blonko's only response was to ask if the 'soul mark' would inhibit his Plumber training, which Sheriff Wat-Senn assured him would not.

Blonko left for Plumbers Academy the following week.

* * *

Plumbers Academy was nothing like Revonnah. For one Blonko (or Rook as he was referred to here) had never seen so many different alien species in one place before. Secondly, the eating habits of many the cadets were less than adequate. He made friends with a Loboan called Scout on the basis that they were both the first of their kind to attempt to become Plumbers. Another cadet, a Lenopan called Mann, was also the first of her species to become a Plumber, but she pulled too many pranks for Rook to even think about befriending her.

One of the many subjects taught at the Academy was on the famous Ben 10. An Earthling who had been given the Omnitrix by Azmuth of the Galvans and used it to save the universe several times. A television series had been made about him that Young One occasionally listened to back home, though as Rook now found out many aspects of the series were fiction.

The first time Rook opened the chapter on Ben 10, his wrist began to burn. He managed to ignore it until he got back to his room before washing it in the sink. It was only then that he realised that he could read the letters burnt into his wrist. This was not very surprising as Plumber Badges had a universal translator built into them so he could understand other languages. What did surprise him was what the letters on his wrist spelt out.

Benjamin Tennyson.

The same name in his text book. The same name as the boy who had saved the universe. The name that was currently on his wrist.

There had to a mistake. From all of the talk Sheriff Wat-Senn had said about 'soul marks' one aspect of them had stayed in Rook's mind: a fated loved one. The one designed by the universe itself to stay with you for eternity. An honour bestowed only on the lowest of sentient beings: humans. Ben 10 must have a name on his wrist, like Rook now had. Out of all the trillions of sentient beings in the universe, the universe had chosen Rook to be Ben 10's. It could not be true. Rook's text book had mentioned that there was over seven billion humans on Earth. Surely there must be another 'Benjamin Tennyson' out there.

Rook pulled his glove back onto his hand and quickly left. He had a class to get to.

* * *

Taking his final exam on an asteroid was not the pleasant experience of Rook's life. However he still managed to pass first in his class, albeit with a slight vendetta against those destructive Vreedle brothers.

Originally, Rook's plan had been to graduate from the Plumbers Academy and go back to Revonnah to train as Sheriff Wat-Senn's future replacement, when he eventually retired. Apparently the universe had other ideas.

Magister Maxwell Tennyson. The greatest of all Plumbers, in Rook's opinion (many other cadets had said that Ben 10 was the greatest, but he did not have the experience of his grandfather), who had requested Rook be stationed on Earth to be Ben 10's new partner. This confused Rook greatly. Did Ben 10 not have two partners already? His cousin Gwen Tennyson and her boyfriend Kevin Levin? "Not any more" was Magister Tennyson's reply. Gwen had gone to college early and Kevin had left to be closer to her. Magister Tennyson did not want his grandson to be facing the dangers of the universe alone. He wanted a friend for Ben 10, who was around his age, capable of facing world-threatening dangers alongside Ben 10 for the foreseeable future.

So Magister Tennyson had been watching the new recruits take their final exam. It did not take long for him long to be convinced that Rook was the best possible option for the job. It also did not take long for Rook to accept the station on Earth.

* * *

Ben 10 was nothing like the text book, or indeed anything, had said. He was loud, egotistical and obnoxious, thinking himself to be the greatest person alive or dead in the universe. It did not surprise Rook too much. Give a ten-year-old the greatest weapon in the universe, tell him to defeat evil and be celebrated for it is hardly good for the development of modesty. But Ben had his strong points. Despite not being academically smart (his failing grades made such a statement obvious), when it came to strategic planning, Ben was quite possibly the best strategist Rook had ever met. From figuring out where Dr Animo's escape route was from a couple of ants to outwitting Khyber – the self-proclaimed 'greatest huntsman in the universe' – Ben was a leader through and through.

Which was good. Since the Plumber's Academy valued teamwork over independent thinking and Rook was quickly realising that text-book thinking was not going to help him very much in the field.

Ben often wore a hooded jacket despite Bellwood being in the desert, even when visiting Ester. If he was not wearing the jacket, then a long-sleeved shirt hid his wrists where his 'soul mark' would be. Apparently this was common practice for humans who had not met their fated one yet and although the idea of humans keeping some traditions comforted Rook, who had grown up on a planet dictated by tradition, it made it impossible to see if Ben's wrist bore the name 'Rook Blonko'.

* * *

The first exposed soul mark Rook saw on Earth besides his own and glimpses of strangers on the street was that of Gwendolyn Tennyson. Admittedly, Gwendolyn was a lot younger than Rook had expected to be as someone with a soul mark, but Gwendolyn had responded with an explanation that only male humans got their soul marks at 18 whilst females got theirs at 16. This made sense as Rook had never seen a soul mark on Ben (not that he had had chances to check). Either way, with Ben and Kevin busy distracting the Tetramand Princess, this left Rook and Gwendolyn together a lot, during which Gwendolyn often complained about her boyfriend's apparent infidelity.

"Forgive me if I am wrong but did Kevin Levin not betroth himself to the Princess before becoming committed to you?" was Rook's response to the matter.

Gwendolyn stared at her exposed soul mark (which bore the name 'Kevin Levin') for a while before sighing and admitting that she was probably being too harsh on Kevin. When the two left, Ben congratulated Rook on keeping his cousin and her boyfriend together as it was unhealthy for soulmates to be apart for long periods of time and breaking up usually ended much of the contact between soulmates.

Rook gave himself a 'mental note', as humans say, to research soulmates and soul marks for more information. He would of asked Ben but his partner was quickly distracted by the thought of smoothies and the impending problem of now being betrothed to an alien princess.

Rook could not lie and say that the thought of Ben being betrothed to anyone unwillingly made him uncomfortable.

* * *

Remembering back to when Magister Tennyson had said that it would be beneficial for Ben to understand other traditions besides human ones, Rook should not have proposed that Ben visiting Revonnah during the harvest be his first lesson. Revonnahganders were very particular in how their traditions were performed and the Harvest Festival was the most important of them all. If not enough Amber Ogia was harvested then Rook's people could starve.

However, Rook was getting 'homesick' and wished to participate in the harvest again (something that he had not done since leaving Revonnah to become a Plumber). In all fairness to Ben, his partner did try to follow tradition in the way that Rook told him to, but having never done it before – or watched anybody else harvest before him – he was doing a poor job. Such matters were made worse when Fistrick began to steal Amber Ogia. Father had a low opinion of humans already since his oldest son was fated to be mated to one of them instead of a nice Revonnahgander, and Ben's poor performance at the harvest along with Fistrick's thievery made it so that eventually getting permission from Father to marry a human would be difficult. Especially since so many Revonnahgander females had asked for his hand in marriage whilst he was away, their admittedly beautiful neighbour Rayona being the first.

Mother had taught Rook long ago that lying to oneself was unhealthy for the mind. So Rook did not lie to himself that if the name 'Benjamin Tennyson' had not been burned onto his wrist he would of considered Rayona a viable option to being his future wife. However, such a name was burned onto his wrist and Rook's slowly waning trust in the universe to make good judgements kept him from taking Rayona's proposition to attending the Harvest Festival with her. Instead, Rook stayed with his family and Ben, staring wistfully at the fireworks in between laughing at Ben's unfortunate attire.

* * *

Admittedly, sending the most powerful being in the universe away whilst his home world was being conquered was not the most intelligent decision that Magister Tennyson had done. Also considering that the most powerful being the universe had over half a decade of training and had dealt with more terrifying beings before the Incurseans made the decision even more stupefying.

Rook was one of the few Plumbers to escape the Incurseans and imprisonment, Blukic being another. Most of the other Plumbers who had escaped were quickly recaptured. They had not the months of evasive field training nor the genius-level intellect that Rook and Blukic had respectfully. Although even Blukic would admit that joining up with Kevin and Gwendolyn was a tactical advantage. Argit was less so an advantage as he was a hindrance but Kevin spoke out in favour of him and his poisonous quills so Rook allowed the rat-like being to help.

He wished he had listened to his 'gut instinct' on that decision.

Being saved by an Incursean was not the most boastful thing Rook had ever done but it was more favourable than the alternative of locked up with no hope of escape. Additionally, there was something about Bullfrag that made Rook instinctually trust him. Maybe it was the obnoxious attitude, workable tactics or some unknown universal force but Bullfrag reminded Rook of Ben. It was therefore not a great surprise to Rook that Bullfrag turned out to Ben.

What did surprise Rook was the euphoric joy he felt within when he was properly reunited with his partner at Mr Smoothies. It was as though the missing piece of himself that had been surgically removed had been returned, albeit not returned within his body but within a box, figuratively speaking. Rook thought that he was successful in keeping this unfamiliar feeling to himself, but Gwendolyn had noticed.

Admittedly, trying to keep a force that tied two lives together a secret from a being that could see life energy was not the most intelligent decision Rook had ever made. Also considering that very same being was also the cousin of his possible soulmate and had spent over a decade and a half being raised alongside that cousin made the decision even more stupefying.

* * *

The following conversation between Rook Blonko and Gwendolyn Tennyson was vaguely familiar to the conversation the two had had a few months ago.

"Wouldn't you have known about this ages ago? I mean, you're older than Ben. You must have had it a while."

Indeed some part of Rook had known that the Bearer of the Omnitrix was his soulmate since his of-age birthday. Even before finding out what the writing said Rook had held Ben 10 in high regards as someone to aspire to be. But why would the most powerful being in the universe consider him, a lowly Revonnahgander who hadn't been in the field for much longer than half a year, as a life-partner?

Gwendolyn had responded with questioning why one of the most powerful magic-users in the galaxy would choice an ex-convict as a life-partner.

Looking beyond Gwendolyn's choices in boyfriends, Rook could understand what Gwendolyn was referring to. There was no reason in trying to outcross fate, especially when proof of such concepts were real and as tangible as the writing on one's wrist.

Rook rarely lied to himself. It did the mind no good to do so. However it now appeared that Rook had been lying to himself for well over a year. It was time to stop.

* * *

Researching human courting conventions was a lot stranger than Rook had previously anticipated. Beyond the mere differences between human and Revonnahgander courting rituals, there were so many different ways to show one's affection to another.

On Revonnah, courting traditionally consisted of presenting the receiver with a freshly baked good, commonly a pie, and then asked them to attend the next festival together. Occasionally, permission for such things was given by the parents of the receiver if the receiver was busy or away somewhere, as had been the case with him and Rayona, but such things were uncommon at best.

Human courting was more commercialised with many websites suggesting a specific flower to be given or hand-to-hand contact, neither of which Rook saw the significance of or would help him in such a situation as he was in. Ben and he often made physical contact with each other – it was part of being a Plumber to sometimes having to hold hands when fleeing from a criminal – and Kevin claimed that flowers were for males to give to females, not males to other males. Although Gwendolyn had slapped him on the head for that comment so Rook was unsure of how reliable that advice was.

Luckily, Gwendolyn was happy to give useful advice on courting Ben, indeed she was overjoyed as Ben had been the one to bring Gwendolyn and Kevin together before Gwendolyn's soul mark had appeared. Magister Tennyson was also quick to offer his advice, although it more about what Ben's preferred flavour of pie was than ways of courtship. Max, as Magister Tennyson insisted on being called, had never had a soul mark. The mother of his children – he hesitated to call Verdona his wife – and he were never fated but that had never stopped them being together for the brief amount of time that they were. Although their relationship had never lasted beyond the growth of their sons, Max said that they had a psychic connection to each other very similar to that of mated soulmates so maybe they were fated but the universe had neglected to place a soul mark upon their skin.

Maybe the advice of making apple pie was the best way of starting this unusual courtship.

* * *

Ben was quite enthusiastic upon receiving the apple pie and had asked what Rook's favourite flavour was. Rook was unsure if Ben understood what the pie represented but he was thankful that Ben liked his baking more than his cooking.

Ben's mother, on the other hand, knew exactly what the pie represented and was quite accepting of Rook courting her son when Rook had shown the soul mark to her. Ben's father was not quite as accepting and had threatened bodily harm upon Rook with his many blades if he harmed Ben. It concerned Rook that Mr Tennyson had apparently tried to get the Omnitrix off his son's wrist with those same blades, or at least ones similar to them, but Mrs Tennyson had insisted that Ben was fine after the ordeal. And honestly, Ben had been through much worse than a failed attempt at removing the Omnitrix by his father.

It then occurred to Rook that if Ben was left-handed and the soul mark appeared on the dominant hand of a person, then the Omnitrix may be obstructing the formation of a soul mark on Ben. Although Ben was not even seventeen yet and had a little over a year for a soul mark to form, it worried Rook that Ben may not believe him if a soul mark did not form on Ben's wrist as it had on Rook's. This was something to ask Azmuth about the next time the two crossed paths.

* * *

As it turns out, meeting Azmuth again was not too difficult. Trying to speak to Azmuth alone without Ben overhearing was more difficult.

After saving the greatest mind in the universe from having his mind lost to his former assistant, Azmuth had immediately teleported back to Galvan Prime after rewiring Albedo's Ultramatrix to trap the Galvan in the form of an 11-year-old Ben. It did not take Rook long to convince Max that he had to speak to Azmuth regarding the Omnitrix obstructing the formation of a soul mark. Azmuth was originally unconcerned about the theory, saying that he would 'get around to it' when the matter arose on Ben's 18th birthday, but Max saying that Rook was Ben's fated one made Azmuth at least interested in the matter.

"A human being fated to a Revonnahgander? A very interesting predicament."

Rook managed to get Azmuth to agree to not say anything about the soul mark to Ben (which Azmuth found very amusing, even putting in his own suggestion of just telling Ben that the two partners were fated) and took many pictures, x-rays and blood tests of Rook's soul mark only the declare it as real and as effective as any human soul mark. He could not do much about Ben's eventual soul mark before it appeared, although there was a remote possibility of it not appearing due to Ben changing forms so often.

At least Azmuth said that if Ben did not believe his partner, cousin, grandfather or parents about the trustworthiness of Rook's soul mark that the test results would ensure scientific reliability. Although Ben rarely considered science to a part of anything beyond a classroom and the results would probably be unconsidered if such a problem would occur.

* * *

Despite everything that Kevin had said about males not giving flowers to other males, Rook decided that since so many human websites had declared the gesture effective it was worth an attempt. Although giving Ben an apple pie had not worked in getting Ben to realise Rook's affections for the human, Rook had decided that it was because such a gesture was more popular on Revonnah than on Earth so using an Earth custom would be much more likely to work.

After acquiring the flowers, a bouquet of red roses was most effective the websites had said, Rook gave them to Ben the next time they had to do patrol.

Although Ben had taken the flowers from Rook, there was no giggling or blushing from him as the internet had said there would be, more of a bemused expression before Ben had responded to Rook's gift with, "You know, usually people give flowers to their partner's mom when they first meet her instead of to their partner. Do you want me to give this to my mom, or do you want to give it to her instead?"

Rook thought that since Ben had accepted the flowers that meant that he had accepted Rook's proposition of courting him. This was quickly put down by Mrs Tennyson who said that it was common for co-workers to give each other's parents flowers to gain their trust.

It seems as though another tactic would have to be used to gain Ben's permission.

* * *

As interesting as it was to be in the Anur Transyl, Rook would have appreciated visiting Scout's home planet more if Lord Transyl had not taken over his body and forced him to fight his fated one. The whole trip had become a failed mission to get the body of Dr Viktor back to Anur Transyl and now every time Rook laid a harmful hand on his fated one his soul mark burned painfully. It had long since burned through his Proto Armour (something that Rook did not think was possible) and it felt as though the soul mark was burning its way into his bone.

Upon being freed from Lord Transyl's control, Scout had wrapped up the soul mark using some supplies he had at his base to keep the soul mark a secret from Ben and Rook explained the situation to his friend. Scout had originally been confused about why Rook would keep such a secret from his fated, although the knowledge that Ben was likely to reject Rook before receiving his own soul mark was enough to keep the Loboan quiet.

Keeping in contact with his cadet friend was near to impossible for Rook to do due to Scout's lack of access to the Extranet. Leaving was painful but the citizens of Anur Transyl were slowly becoming more accepting of coming into contact with those outside of their system so Rook doubted that he would be out of contact with his friend for much longer.

* * *

Despite what the Plumbers (including Blukic and Driba) thought, Rook in fact had some memories of his time under Fistrick's 'bro essence'. He did not particularly like being under its control, particularly when he participated in an illegal fight club, which Rook considered to be a stain on his personal honour. However, the events did leave Rook without his inhibitions which gave him the confidence to initiate another of the courting tactics he found online: hand-to-hand contact.

Unfortunately, Ben did not see the unnecessary touches as being anything more than the effects of the 'bro essence' so the admittedly embarrassing events did nothing for Rook in terms of advancing the relationship.

At least that is one more tactic proven to be useless. And giving the Golden Fist into Plumber processing meant that Rook did not have a stain on his conscious.

* * *

Rook knew from the moment he decided to willingly attempt to court Ben that there would be some, particularly on his home planet, that would not be accepting of his choice of mate. His former Revonnah Kai teacher Master Kundo being 'top of the list' so to speak.

Master Kundo hated anything technological. Even Rook's Proto Tool, which had saved his people's way of life back when Fistrick tried to steal Amber Ogia from them, was considered to be 'dirty' and 'wrong'. It had taken many attempts from the other Elders to convince Kundo that the silos used to store Amber Ogia were beneficial towards Revonnah's way of life as opposed to storing it in caves, basements or even underground where Muroids could take it.

That being said, Rook had never wished for his former teacher's fate to be dissolved in acidic water. It was a horrible and yet fitting demise for someone who hated advancement so much that he would resort to hypocrisy to kidnap three of his own.

Although that day did have a 'silver lining' with Rook's brother losing his bi'nthak and becoming an accepted Revonnahgander. The effect Ben had on his family was obvious when his brother chose 'Ben' to be his name. Although Rook wondered what name Ben would have to take if they were to ever become betrothed as there was already confusion within his family when referring to a 'Ben'.

* * *

Never had Rook been so thankful to the universe when Ben insisted on bring him along on his 'date' with Ester. Although he could have done without the thieves and visits from a mysterious boy who was quite obviously not Jimmy Jones now.

The mysterious boy seemed very particular in trapping him and Ben together, being distraught about Kai and Ben being the ones trapped and how "it should've been you". He also seemed very happy that Kai and Ben had spent their time attempting to escape their prison rather than talking to each other about anything other than escaping and finding the thieves.

Rook had to admit that he was also grateful that Ben felt no attraction to Kai as he had when he had been ten years old.

* * *

Meeting the future version of Ben, who called himself Ben 10,000, had been…interesting to say the least. Figuring out the concept of time was difficult to someone who was used to only going forwards through it. This was not an issue for Ben, though, who was used to the concept of time travel, alternate dimensions and also 'had a mind for theoretical physics' which was saying something considering Ben was currently failing physics in school.

Ben 10,000 did give Rook some hope for the future by winking at him. According to Gwendolyn, winking meant one should not lose hope in what they are currently aspiring to do. Especially when the one doing the winking comes from the future.

* * *

Watching the various females Ben had met since acquiring the Omnitrix compete for his hand in marriage was discomforting for Rook to witness. Especially when Kai was declared the winner and Ben kissed her.

Rook was eventually confronted about it by Max whilst he was in a depressive state, saying that Ben had accidentally kissed Kai and that neither liked each other in a romantic (or indeed very friendly) way. Besides, Kai's soul mark did not have the name 'Benjamin Tennyson' on it. Instead, a random male's name whom Kai had yet to meet was burned on her wrist.

Despite the revelation that his fated one's past crush would never become his wife, Rook was still 'down in the dumps' about his relationship with Ben. If Max could love someone whose name was not on his wrist, then why should Ben? Especially when there were so many attractive females available for Ben to get romantically involved with.

It was at this point, that Rook decided that Ben 10,000 had been wrong. Maybe the Ben 10,000 they had met was from an alternate future to theirs, one where Ben actually reciprocated Rook's feelings for him.

* * *

As it turned out, the mysterious boy that Rook and Ben kept meeting - Spanner - thought differently about Rook's theory. Time travel is a strange concept to experience and being sent into the future with Ben by Spanner was no different to being trapped in a time loop like the previous week.

To the untrained eye, it would appear that Ben 10,000 and Kai were married with a son, who turned out to be Spanner. Although Ben later said that if Ben 10,000 and Kai were married then their marriage must not have been a good one since the two were abrupt and cynical to each other. They were more like unwilling partners in a business that required them to work together than a happily married couple.

Unfortunately, Rook could not see Ben 10,000 soul mark due to the Biomnitrix so Rook could not say that Rook was indeed Ben's fated as Ben was Rook's. But the winking Ben 10,000, Kai, Gwendolyn, Kevin and even future Max gave him renewed some of the hope Rook had that Ben loved him too.

After all was said and done it took a literal push from Spanner for Ben to confront Rook about the soul mark.

It began with a statement, rather than a question like those found on the romance websites. "You know, Spanner said that you had a soul mark."

Rook looked up from the smoothie he was currently drinking. "Indeed I do." Ending it like that was Earth custom for saying that the conversation was over. Rook's heart was already in figurative pieces, there was no reason to break it even further.

Ben, apparently, was either oblivious to this custom, or more likely wanted answers that he was not getting. "I know this is private thing, but I thought that soul marks was only for humans and you aren't human."

"I am aware."

"Can I see it?"

Rook stared at his drink for about two minutes before rolling the sleeve up on his wrist to reveal the name 'Benjamin Tennyson' to the one the universe said was to be his fated one.

Ben looked at it with a quizzing face, as though he did not believe that Rook's soul mark was real. Rook eventually decided to 'press his luck' at convincing Ben. "If you do not believe it to be real then your grandfather, cousin, Kevin and Azmuth will say it to be true."

"You talked to all those people about this?" The voice was pained.

"Yes. Does it upset you that I did?"

Ben looked at the Omnitrix. No, he was not looking at the device that changed his life. He was looking at his dominant wrist. The one that may one day bear Rook's name upon it.

Rook continued with his story, taking Ben's silence as Ben being upset about him talking to his family and mentor about his soul mark. "I tried to court you according to human and Revonnahgander custom. I gave you an apple pie, red roses and initiated hand-holding. You did not respond to them in any way that said that you were 'interested' in courtship."

His loved one then grinned and gave a familiar wink to Rook. One that Rook had seen before and in the future.

"You know, if you wanted to ask me out you should've just said so."

* * *

 **A/N: I know I'm leaving it abruptly where it was and it may be difficult to understand when each line break ends off time-wise according to the Omniverse TV series, particularly if you haven't watched all the episodes (at the time of writing this I haven't watched the final four episodes and likely I'm not going to as I've read the plot and it doesn't really interest me) so it goes like this:**

 **1/2/3: Before the Omniverse series begins. Technically this is during Ultimate Alien. Continuity between these two series is difficult, especially when taking into consideration the original series (like when Ben meets Albedo for the first time when he's 11 but doesn't recognise the name when he's 15) so getting a straight time reference is difficult but since Rook is at the Plumbers Academy at the same time as Octagon and Rhomboid Vreedle it's safe to say it's after 'The Mother of All Vreedles' which is when the Vreedle Brothers decide to become Plumbers.**

 **4: Between 'Of Predators and Prey: Part 2' and 'Many Happy Returns'. I skip over most of Season 1 as it's mainly about Ben and Rook getting used to each other and finding each other's strengths and weaknesses so they can work together as partners.**

 **5: 'Many Happy Returns'.** **Yes, Ben does get engaged to Looma at this time but since Rook is still in denial he isn't too concerned about Ben getting unwillingly engaged to an alien princess.**

 **6: 'Bros in Space'. Rayona does ask Rook to the Harvest Festival, but Rook denies her despite his parents' prompting. This is part of the reason why Ben doesn't go after Rook by himself since he thinks Rook has a girlfriend in Rayona.**

 **7: 'The Frogs of War: Part 2'**

 **8/9/10: Sometime after 'The Frogs of War: Part 2'.**

 **11/12: Sometime after 'For a Few Brains More'.**

 **13: 'The Vampire Strikes Back'.**

 **14: 'No Honor Among Bros'.**

 **15: 'Rook Tales'. From here on out I take some liberties with the canon of the show.**

 **16: 'Fight at the Museum'. Ben and Kai are still trapped in the museum by Spanner, but Spanner was trying to trap Ben and Rook together but failed.**

 **17: 'Let's Do the Time War Again'.**

 **18: 'The Most Dangerous Game'. I have only read the plot online and have not seen the episode itself. I've never found romantic shows interesting or entertaining and this definitely falls under my category of 'potentially uncomfortable for me to watch'.**

 **19: After 'A New Dawn'. This is just before Ben decides to go on a 'road trip' across the universe with Rook, Gwen and Kevin. Realistically, there would be no way these four could see the whole universe during their lifetime. But this is a show that centres around a teenage boy turning into different species of alien, one of which is a single-celled organism (Goop) which shouldn't be biologically possible so it's safe to say that the show takes some liberties with science. Personally, I think that maybe they could have done a couple of galaxies considering the technology the Plumbers have, but even within the context of the show it seems that if Ben leaves Earth for longer than a week a new conqueror tries to take it over so it wouldn't be good for him to leave for too long.**

 **I'm planning to do a second part to this fic about the aftermath of Rook and Ben getting together. If I do, it will take place two years from when Omniverse ends and would end at around the time of 'A New Dawn' on the future side of the events.**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: There is a lot of mpreg in this. If you don't like it, then just ignore this entire chapter. This centres around Ben and Rook's relationship after Omniverse, stretching from Ben's 18** **th** **to the events of 'The End of an Era'. It's also a lot shorter than the previous chapter but a lot of stuff happens during it.**

* * *

The first few weeks of Ben and Rook's courtship were almost like a honeymoon for them, at least according to Ben. Although during their tour of the universe (which was more accurately a tour of a few galaxies) they did not mate like one would do during a honeymoon, Rook enjoyed it very much. Gwendolyn was 'over the moon' about their relationship and both she and Kevin were there when they visited Revonnah in case Father decided to reject his son's choice in mate. Unsurprisingly, he did so, along his Mother and his sisters Shim and Shi. His younger brother, which Rook now mentally referred to him as since he struggled to comprehend that his beloved and his brother shared the same name, was overjoyed about Ben possibly one day becoming part of the family and had started to refer to Ben as 'Brother Ben'. Shar, when they visited her at the Plumbers Academy, was also supportive of their relationship, although she was less enthused than their brother.

Overall, the subsequent year was much like the previous one with Ben and Rook bringing miscreants to justice, although their hand-holding increased and kissing was not uncommon, whilst they waited for Ben's soul mark to appear.

With little thought about the future, few could have considered what followed past Ben's eighteenth.

* * *

Truly, Rook should not have been all that surprised about the consequences of mating with his beloved. Ben had proven himself many times to be the exception in most rules and really Rook had seen stranger things in the time he had known Ben.

But when the two, on Ben's 18th birthday, overjoyed when Ben's soul mark said 'Rook Blonko' on it, had finally mated for the first time, the possibility of pregnancy should not have been an issue, considering Ben was male.

Realistically, Rook knew that Spanner had to come from somewhere. Although it was fourteen years too early for Spanner to be born and nobody from the future had mentioned Ben 10,000 or even Rook's future self as having additional children.

The only being not surprised about the pregnancy was Azmuth. The Omnitrix had been designed to allow others to 'walk in the shoes' of other aliens, and according to Azmuth experiencing the mating rituals of other species was important as well. However, after Ben had produced fourteen Negrofriggian offspring in his fifteenth year (which surprised not only Rook but everybody who wasn't Gwendolyn and Kevin), Azmuth had disabled this function. The changes to Ben's human form, however, were already complete as Ben now had a fully-functioning female reproductive system alongside his male one. When Ben and Rook had mated, the female system had recognised the possibility of reproduction and had done so.

Ben was pregnant.

* * *

Hiding the pregnancy from the outside world was difficult and, in Rook's opinion, unnecessary. People would begin to worry if the Saviour of the Universe suddenly disappeared only to return with a half-Revonnahgander child. However, Ben's pride dictated that the pregnancy be hidden which was difficult considering Ben still had to go to school. Luckily, Kevin had a spare ID mask so at the very least Ben could attend classes and an excuse was made that Ben had temporarily stopped fighting to focus on graduating high school.

It was also fortunate that after the universe was recreated the Earthling governments had decreed it necessary for Ben to have a tower for himself to keep Earth safe after he graduated, so the child at least would have somewhere safe to grow up in. Understandably, Ben was enthusiastic about this although Max then decided to move Plumbers HQ into the tower for additional safety requirements.

He was very protective of what would soon be his future great-grandchild.

Rook thought this advancement beneficial since Ben couldn't use the Omnitrix until after the birth less he wish to deform the infant before it was born and thus needed extra protection. Rook then decided that after the birth Ben should be properly trained in hand-to-hand combat in case the worst ever happened and Rook was unable to help him.

* * *

Their son was born in early September. Although being slightly early he was otherwise healthy. A Revonnahgander in every way besides his markings being the same shade of brown as Ben's hair. They named him Renoir after one of Rook's favourite stories on Revonnah about a hero who came to save his people from an invasion. Whether or not the story was true did not matter as the effect was still the same. And since Ben and Rook were not married yet Ren took both their names.

Kevin found the name amusing, often referring to Rook and Ben's son as 'Ren 10'.

* * *

Being a Magister was more difficult than Rook had previously anticipated. Although considering he was the youngest Plumber ever to be named Magister he was decent at the job.

Leading his own team of Plumbers without the help of Ben was strange in its own right. But Ben was still recovering from giving birth and Max thought the numerous missions would be a perfect opportunity for Rook to gain extra experience. Ben just thought that Max was trying to keep the two soulmates away in hopes of stalling the conception of another child – of which Rook was both glad and despondent about. He and Ben were not planning on having another child until around the time Spanner was supposed to be conceived, but keeping two soulmates away for an extended amount of time was dangerous for their mental health. Although the concerns were directed more towards Ben as a human whose biology required contact with their soulmate than towards Rook whose people could survive being away from their mates and be unscarred by the ordeal.

Still, Rook was content about his current life. He had a mate and child who loved him, a new family in the form of the Tennysons (since he was still not on speaking terms with anyone in his birth family besides his brother and Shar) and an occupation he thoroughly enjoyed.

What could go wrong?

* * *

Maybe Ben had a point about the universe hearing when it was being challenged.

Ben's second pregnancy was just as unplanned as his first, perhaps even more so since they had been using protection ever since Ren was born. But after being separated for a month whilst on a mission, neither Rook nor Ben thought to take necessary precautions to avoid conception. Which had led to Ben getting pregnant for a second time just after his 20th birthday. However, upon finding out Ben was pregnant for a second time nobody thought this pregnancy would be any different from the first one, and indeed it was not besides Ben being slightly bigger with this child than he had been with their son.

The birth, however, was much different from the first.

Being trapped in Vilgax's mothership was not the ideal environment to give birth in, especially when one is forced to give birth by themselves. Rook did not know what transpired on the ship, but when the Plumbers finally infiltrated the mothership there was almost nothing that was not destroyed. Vilgax was eventually found barely alive with Ben as Rath beating him into the ground. It took thirteen Plumbers to wrestle Ben off Vilgax's broken body. The baby, a girl, was found in an unlaunched escape pod not long after Gwendolyn had subdued Ben by cutting off his air supply to cause him to faint.

Rook was the one to name her Gwendolyn, in hopes of it convincing his beloved to come back to them.

* * *

Looking after two children by oneself whilst also being a Magister-ranked Plumber is extremely difficult. Ben was never around long enough to do anything besides eat a sandwich before turning into XLR8 and zooming off to stop another criminal. Something had happened on Vilgax's ship that had changed Rook's beloved from an egotistical but caring hero into a strict and serious man who bore near no resemblance to the Ben Rook had fallen for four years ago.

After being transported to Ben's Headquarters, Ben had completely ignored everybody including Rook in favour of 'fiddling around' with the Omnitrix. It was during this self-imposed isolation that Ben had unlocked the Omnitrix's Master Control and had not turned back into his human form since.

Azmuth had been contacted after Ben had been a Kineceleran for a month. Azmuth's response to the situation was simply to let Ben continue what he was doing as "he will snap out of it eventually".

Rook was tired of waiting for 'eventually' to happen. He wanted his soulmate back.

* * *

Never had Rook been so thankful that Kai had accepted a station at Ben's Headquarters. Although Rook was still wary of Kai, he needed help raising his children and Kai was willing to 'lend a hand'. Kai had long since given up on finding her soulmate herself and was focusing on finding more alien artefacts to teach the youth of Earth about those beyond the Sol System.

The two never conversed much beyond greeting each other a good morning but they took shifts between them with Rook going on a Plumber mission one month and Kai going on an expedition the next month. Gwendolyn and Kevin also tried to help but they were often distracted by their own lives to stay at Headquarters permanently.

But the pain of losing his beloved was almost too much for Rook to bear. He could only imagine what it must be like for Ben.

* * *

It took ten years for Azmuth's 'eventually' to arrive in the form of Ben's 10-year-old self. Out of everyone, Ben and Gwendolyn were the only Earthlings not surprised by this as they had expected this to happen when they'd visited the future – now, the present – twenty years ago.

This did not stop the hurt that grew within Rook.

Gwendolyn had known that this would happen and she never stopped it. Yes, it would cause a rupture in the time-stream but she could have at least done something to comfort him beyond "it'll all work out". Ben still would not talk about what had transpired on Vilgax's ship and likely never would, even to his own soulmate.

It took ten years for Rook's soulmate to return to him. It took even longer for Rook to forgive him.

* * *

Devlin was a strange-looking child. According to Ben he looked much like Kevin did when he was eleven and went through his first mutation. Rook still considered the newborn his honorary nephew, if not through his relation to Gwendolyn then through his friendship with Kevin.

Or at least he did, before Kevin stole away with Devlin.

Losing Devlin nearly destroyed Gwendolyn. She spent years trying to find him again, but to no avail. Kevin and Devlin were simply gone. Nobody, not even Ben, could find them. It was as if they had never existed. To make matters worse, Gwendolyn's brother Ken had died in a car accident merely a month after the disappearance. He had been looking for his nephew and his car had fallen off a cliff on a slippery road. Gwendolyn had lost not only her husband and son, but also her brother.

This time, Rook took the incisive to comfort Gwendolyn, even though she had not comforted him.

* * *

Ben's third pregnancy was planned. Spanner was due to be born within a year and even though tensions between Rook and his mate were still negative, the stability of the time-stream depended on the birth of their final child.

Ben named him Kenneth, after the cousin he had lost.

* * *

Watching his children grow often made Rook think about his own family – his biological family – most of whom he had not seen in many decades. Were his sisters doing well? Are his parents still alive? Does he have any living nieces or nephews?

Rationally, Rook knew that he probably did. Although neither Shar, stationed light years away on another planet, and his brother, a travelling space mechanic, were not mated that did not mean that Shi and Shim were not. Revonnahgander tradition – if it still existed after all this time – told that family was the central point in any household so Rook probably had at least a couple of niblings. After twenty-one years of effectively not seeing his first family beyond one sister and his brother, Rook still wondered what had become of them.

He would likely never see them again. He was not welcome on Revonnah again after the news of him courting Ben was told.

* * *

Ken's tenth birthday was the only one Ben attended and the only one Rook missed. He and Gwendolyn were sent off-world for what was supposed to be a short mission that then spanned several months. However, Rook considered that since his mate was now forty-two years old he could last a while without him.

Coming home to see that Ben had adopted a child was not what Rook had expected Ben to do. Especially since that child was Devlin, now in a more humanoid form than Rook had seen him in previously, and was near traumatised from the time he had spent alone with Kevin in the Null Void. Both father and son were now attending therapy, separately, but a more pressing matter had to be considered.

During the time that Kevin had spent in the Null Void he had gathered a following. A following that now called themselves the new Rooters and Plumbers now stationed in the Null Void were unable to contain the imposing threat that was over 11,000 different species of sentient aliens, along with countless other non-sentient species, running riots in the pocket dimension. A leader was needed, and Max decided that Rook was the best Plumber for the job.

Rook left not a week after returning to watch over the Null Void. It seemed ironic and definitely the universe's doing that twenty years ago Ben had been obsessed with his occupation and had left his mate alone with two children to care for. Now Rook was doing the same thing.

* * *

Four years of separation from his beloved was nothing compared to the ten years of separation Rook had experienced over a decade and a half ago. But when Max retired and declared Rook his replacement, Rook accepted the position with minimal afterthought. Kevin was now rehabilitated and ready to become the Magister of the Null Void. What had happened in the past was happening again as Rook met his past counterpart and fought in the Time War.

What had changed was the attitude between Ben and Rook. Their relationship was now much like it had been when they were teenagers with the figurative weight of the universe on the shoulders. But despite everything that had occurred between them in the intervening decades between their past counterparts and themselves, they were still Rook and Ben.

Overall, when Rook awoke on the day after becoming Earth's Magistratus next to his beloved soulmate, he still wished that things had gone better for them all. He wished that he had not lost contact with his family. He wished that Ben had not temporarily lost himself. He wished that Kevin had not gone insane and stolen his son. But nevertheless, everything had happened as it should and the universe was still stable.

They had all done what they were meant to do.

* * *

 **A/N: I admit that this chapter isn't as good as the previous one but I didn't have much to go on. I made this fic as an experiment in how someone unaccustomed to fate would react to their lives being effectively outside of their control. The previous half was about someone not being able to choose who they love, with this half being about Rook knowing how the future will turn out but not knowing the process which resulted in the finished product. If you think about it like that then I find that the idea of soulmates and time travel becomes slightly disturbing, although you might not find it that way.**

 **Most of what is in this half of the fic I got from the Ben 10 Wiki about what happens in the future. Canonically what happens is that when Ben is about 20, something happens that leads him to mutilate Vilgax (what this 'something' is has never been stated) and afterwards he spends the next ten years obsessively fighting crime across the world as XLR8 to get it done quickly before moving onto the next criminal. He's stated to have hardly ever been in his human form during this time and had stopped naming his alien forms. Then, in 'Ben 10,000' (part of the original series) he is visited by his 10-year-old self (and Gwen), fights Dr Animo and Vilgax again and somehow reforms himself in the span of about a day. Kenny is born about two years after the events of 'Ben 10,000' which leads to the events of 'Ken 10' where Kenny gets an Omnitrix of his own. Interestingly, in 'Ken 10' Kenny has an older sister called Gwen but in Omniverse she no longer exists. It's during 'Ken 10' that Kevin is captured (and assumingly re-re-re-reformed, however many times it is, since he's a Plumber in 'The End of an Era') and Devlin is adopted by Ben.**

 **I've made Gwendolyn Devlin's mother. Officially, Kevin met Devlin's mother on a Saturn space colony and apparently Kevin and Devlin's mother were married. I've changed this so that Gwendolyn is Devlin's mother since I don't think Kevin would willingly break up with Gwendolyn and anyway during 'The End of an Era' Kevin and Gwendolyn are apparently dating. Devlin could still be born on a Saturn space colony, though, just with Gwendolyn as his mother. I highly suggest reading the 'Elevator Monolauge' series on Archive of Our Own for a possible scenario in which this may play out.**

 **The name 'Renoir' I got from 'Love After Love Drabbles'. The reasoning why Ben and Rook named their son 'Renoir' I made up myself. I love this name since now Ben's children are called Ren, Gwen and Ken, like how Ben and Gwendolyn's names rhyme (in their nickname form).**


	3. Additional Information

**Note: This is NOT an actual chapter. This is me elaborating on aspects of this fic that did happen in my version of events. If you don't want to read this, you don't have to, but it does expand this universe slightly in what happened to other characters and why certain things happened (as although the events in this fic do happen in chronological order, they are basically snippets in time and not the full story).**

 **Firstly, the title of the fic. Originally it was going to be 'Written Amongst the Stars' as that is more grammatically correct, but when I played the title in my head it just didn't sound right so I changed it to 'among' rather than 'amongst'. Sorry to any grammar Nazis out there. The reason behind this fic being named what it is, is because of Rook. Rook is 'from the stars' (i.e. he's an alien) and the soul mark is 'written' on his wrist (actually burned on, which yes, hurts quite a bit when it forms). So it is a soul mark that was written on a being from the stars, thereby being written among the stars.**

 **Secondly, this fic is from Rook's POV. It may be from a third-person perspective, it is Rook's perspective. Everything in this fic is something Rook knows, but there is a lot he either doesn't know or doesn't mention. This is what I will be explaining. Think of it as my abbreviated notes for the story (I do have actual notes, too! A lot of thought goes into every one of my fics). So, let us begin!**

 **1.** **Rook did wake up in the morning of his eighteenth birthday screaming because when the soul mark appears, it feels like having the name literally burned on your wrist. It also looks like a burn.**

 **2.** **Young One knows about soulmates because a lot of studying has been done on human soul marks and why only humans have soul marks (the Elders are so out-of-touch with the rest of the universe that they aren't aware of such things existing), as well as there being lots of internet theories and a couple of radio shows (the Ben 10 radio show being one of them) having soul marks as a plot point, even alien ones as a kind of idealised universe where everyone has soul marks, whether they're human or not. Even aliens have fanfics, folks!**

 **3.** **Sheriff Wat-Senn knows about soul marks due to Max Tennyson moaning about not having a soul mark to him during their younger years. This usually resulted in societal prejudice on Earth and is the reason why Max chose to be a Plumber rather than an astronaut as aliens don't have the same prejudice.**

 **4.** **Plumber Mann is Lucy Mann, Gwen and Ben's 'cousin' (she's actually Max's nephew's wife's cousin, not blood-related to them). No Lenopan before Max has ever been a Plumber since there was a war between the Lenopans and the Plumbers that was ended by the marriage of Joel Tennyson (Max's nephew) and Camille Mann (Lucy's cousin). Lucy is actually quite young to be a Plumber, but Max pulled some strings for her to be accepted as it would hopefully improve relations between Lenopans and Plumbers.**

 **5.** **The universal translator also works on soul marks as it doesn't actually change the words into, say, English, but provides a holographic translation for the words. In this case, to translate Rook's soul mark into Revonnan (reh-von-an, I guess that's Rook's language…) rather than English. Not all soul marks are in English. They are in the first language of the person's soulmate. So Rook's soul mark is in English (as that's Ben's first language) whilst Ben's would be in Revonnan.**

 **6.** **Knowing what I know about Octagon and Rhomboid Vreddle, they probably blew up the entire Academy during weapons practise. Rook would probably either be in the same class as they were when they did this or was tutoring them (probably the latter). This would mean that Rook would probably have been injured by the Vreedle Brothers – quite possibly the only one injured – which is why he really, really doesn't like them.**

 **7.** **I reasoned that Max probably chose Rook to be Ben's partner because Rook was top of his class in the Academy, so no, Max did not chose Rook to be Ben's partner because Rook was Ben's soulmate. At this point, he doesn't know about this being the case.**

 **8.** **Ben is failing his grades in school, but he isn't stupid at all. He probably has an eidetic memory since in 'Where the Magic Happens' Ben was able to write down magic runes that he'd only seen for about ten seconds from a distance perfectly enough for Gwen and Charmcaster to read. However, eidetic memory doesn't mean Ben is a genius, there is no causation between having an eidetic memory and having a genius intellect. Knowing something isn't the same as understanding it, which is what is really required for school, which is why Ben has bad grades. Ben is more of a field learner than a book learner.**

 **9.** **The reason why Ben hides his blank wrist is a habit caused by him feeling left out once Gwen and Kevin got together and he broke up with Julie. Ben and Julie broke up for a different reason than in my fic than in the show. In the show, BEN broke up with Julie accidentally when playing video games (I hate this and seriously don't think that Ben would be stupid enough to do this. He really loved Julie). In this fic, JULIE broke up with Ben when her soul mark appeared and the name wasn't Ben's. She then went to France during the summer and met her soulmate accidentally.**

 **10.** **Rook didn't know that there were age differences between when the sexes got their soul marks. He thought that it was always 18 before seeing Gwen's soul mark as that's what his text books said in the Academy. Both Gwen and Kevin keep their soul marks out in the open like all found soulmates do as a kind of proclamation to others that they are not available for flirting with. This is an example of the many things my version of human society has developed to accommodate soul marks. Another which I never mentioned in the fic is soul bands. Soul bands are basically full bracelets which completely cover the wearer's dominant wrist and in the US are usually given as a 13** **th** **birthday present. Ben does have one, and he did wear it in the time period when he didn't wear the Omnitrix, but he can't wear one now as he now has the Omnitrix on his dominant wrist. It probably replaced the Omnitrix in that shoe box…**

 **11.** **Rook is slowly getting used to using English metaphors, which is why he begins to use them more often as the fic progresses.**

 **12.** **Rook says that he is uncomfortable about the thought of Ben being unwillingly betrothed to Princess Looma. This is actually the first instance of Rook slowly realising his feelings for Ben as it is actually the thought of Ben being betrothed to somebody else rather than being unwillingly betrothed that is making him uncomfortable. He just hasn't realised his crush on Ben yet.**

 **13.** **Rook refusing to take Rayona to the Harvest Festival and instead spending it with his family and Ben is a significant event. One, it is another instance of Rook's feelings for Ben overtaking his traditional upbringing as he chooses to attend the festival with a human rather than a Revonnahgander by technicality. Word probably would have spread around Rook's village about Rook having a soul mark so guesses and assumptions would have been made when Rook rejected Rayona.**

 **14.** **Two, this is when Rook Da really goes against the idea of Rook having a human mate as the societal reaction to Rook rejecting Rayona is very negative and the Rook family began being pushed out of societal circles. And while Rook Da doesn't outright disown his son until it comes out that Rook and Ben are dating during this 'universe trip', their relationship is very strained which is why Rook isn't surprised that his father did disown him. His mother followed suit as she didn't want to go against her husband (Revonnahganders have a patriarchal society), and Shi and Shim were bullied about having a brother with a human mate and so also disowned him. Shar had already left for Plumbers Academy and Young One had already planned to leave Revonnah when he came of age and so just didn't care.**

 **15.** **Three, Ben doesn't know the significance of Rook rejecting Rayona. He thinks that Rook and Rayona are dating and so doesn't pursue Rook as he doesn't want to be a 'homewrecker'. This is also why Ben's confused about Rook's courting techniques later on. Ironically, if Rook had taken Azmuth's advice of just telling Ben about his soul mark, Ben would have pursued Rook and the whole fiasco of Rook trying to court Ben wouldn't have happened. Rook thinks that Ben will reject him if he outright tells Ben about his soul mark because he's projecting his society assumptions onto Ben. Ben does the same when he assumes Rook and Rayona are dating.**

 **16.** **Four, this is when Rook accepts that he has a crush on Ben. He knew the implications of rejecting Rayona and went through with them.**

 **17.** **Gwen didn't realise about Rook and Ben being soul linked because she can see life energy. This is just Rook's assumption. She realised it because Rook would constantly talk about Ben and how he misses Ben and so put two and two together. Rook doesn't realise he did this.**

 **18.** **Blukic got away because Driba accidentally provided a distraction for him when he knocked over a piece of lab equipment. Gwen and Kevin were in Bellwood because they saw the news and hightailed over there as soon as possible. It was coincidence that they all met up. Argit had already made plans with the Incurseans before he joined up with Rook, Gwen, Kevin and Blukic. This is because although the Incurseans knew there was a resistance, they didn't know who was in it or who was leading it and wanted an inside man.**

 **19.** **Max knows about Rook's soul mark because Rook told him. He thought it would be important for his soulmate's grandfather who also happens to be his employer to know about the soul mark before pursuing Ben.**

 **20.** **Max and Verdona aren't soul linked. Their psychic link is the result of Verdona actively deciding when they were together to produce an artificial link so that they could pass off as soulmates while raising their children on Earth. Real soulmates only feel each other's vague emotions and it depends on how long they've known each other and how long they've been apart for. Max and Verdona's is like this but without the variables.**

 **21.** **Ben's favourite flavour of pie being apple is a reference to his very American lifestyle through the phrase "as American as apple pie".**

 **22.** **Sandra Tennyson knows about the significance of the apple pie Rook gives Ben because Max gave her and Carl Tennyson a heads up about Revonnahgandan courting behaviour so that they'd know what to expect from Rook. Ben wasn't told this because Max, Sandra and everyone else in the family and Plumber Headquarters wanted to watch the hilarity unfold.**

 **23.** **Everybody in Plumber Headquarters knew about Rook trying to court Ben. They never mentioned it to Ben beyond dropping a couple of hints that Ben in all of his obliviousness didn't catch.**

 **24.** **If Ben hadn't of taken off the Omnitrix for a while between the original series and Alien Force, his soul mark probably wouldn't have developed. This is why Spanner doesn't have an Omnitrix despite Kenny owning one, to avoid this happening.**

 **25.** **Azmuth finds the idea of Ben and Rook being soulmates to be very interesting because there are very few examples of humans being soul linked with aliens and he hasn't had the opportunity to observe two soulmates before they're mated.**

 **26.** **Trying to physically harm your soulmate leads to the soul mark of the attacker burning as if having your wrist placed on a cooker while it's on. It does cause injury. The universe usually cares about intention, so accidentally hurting your soulmate doesn't cause this to happen, but being mind-controlled causes the mind controller's intentions to outweigh the intentions of the person being mind-controlled. The 'bro essence' neutralised this because the area in Rook's brain the 'bro essence' affected is also the area of the brain that 'controls' the soul mark, which is why Rook's soul mark doesn't burn him when he fights Ben in 'No Honor Among Bros'.**

 **27.** **Rook is still 'there' when being controlled by the 'bro essence' but isn't 'all there'. When he was being controlled by the 'bro essence', it was only Rook's instincts, Plumber training and desire to court Ben that were still there. Afterwards, the events of 'No Honor Among Bros' would feel like a dream to Rook, even though it actually happened.**

 **28.** **Master Kundo does return and Rook and Ben do go back to Revonnah during the Incursean invasion, but nothing really notable happens outside of the canon except for Rook Da being more hostile towards Rook.**

 **29.** **Ester and Kai are not aware of Rook's soul mark nor his intentions to court Ben until Ben and Rook start dating.**

 **30.** **Ben does still have a crush on Kai, but he also has a crush on Rook. By the time 'The Most Dangerous Game' comes around, Ben has already chosen Rook over Kai since Kai broke his heart as a child and he never really forgave her for it. Plus, Kai's soul mark isn't his name, so he wouldn't really have had a chance with her.**

 **31.** **Kai claims not have found her soulmate while helping Rook with Ren and Gwen, but she does actually know who he is. He was an Argentinian who died in his mid-teens, so Kai was quite happy to distract herself with her exploring and raising Ben and Rook's kids. Later on, her desire to have children is fulfilled when she helps raise Kenny and retires from exploring to curate a museum dedicated to her in Bellwood. Her relationship with Ben is that of co-workers and kind of friends. It is warmer than what young Rook sees during the Time War, but definitely isn't romantic in any way.**

 **32.** **The "literal push from Spanner" is a goof on my part. Originally, I was going to have it so that Kenny pushed Ben into Rook's arms which would cause Rook's sleeves to roll up, thus allowing Ben to see Rook's soul mark. But I changed it so that Kenny simply told Ben that Rook had a soul mark because, although the original revelation was more romantic, it just felt too plot convenient to me.**

 **33.** **Everybody from the future knows how Rook and Ben get together. They also know that around this time in the past, Rook was beginning to lose hope, but they couldn't outright tell Rook how he and Ben got together without damaging the timestream, so they settled for winking to keep Rook's hopes up.**

 **34.** **Azmuth knew about Ben's future from his pregnancies to his kidnapping to his change of heart as an adult from Professor Paradox. He didn't tell or help Rook in any way because he knew it would all work out in the end and he had more important things to worry about.**

 **35.** **Rook doesn't go through with teaching Ben hand-to-hand combat because Ben ALREADY KNOWS hand-to-hand combat. Seriously, watch the fight scene between Ben and Pierce Wheels in 'Voided' and Max's reaction to Ben winning.**

 **36.** **The story of Ren's namesake is inspired by the Greek myths when Perceus is travelling Greece, collecting items to help the gods with the war against the Titans.**

 **37.** **What happened when Ben was kidnapped: Ben was actually pregnant with twin girls (Gwen and Jen, a homage to Jennifer Nocturne who Ben felt really bad about abandoning to her Stockholm Syndrome to Captain Nemesis). There is no way to say this nicely, Vilgax killed Jen. When she was born, Ben was only really capable of protecting one child immediately after giving birth, which gave Vilgax the opportunity to take Jen away from Ben and break her neck. This understandably made Ben very angry which resulted in the aftermath briefly described by Rook. Ben was focused enough to put baby Gwen in an escape pod which was set to dispatch if Vilgax's ship began to malfunction due to Ben trashing the place (and Vilgax). Ben never told anybody about this until after the Time War and he told Rook about their deceased child.**

 **38.** **Ren leaves to become a Plumber when he turns 18. He is basically Rook's son is every way possible, except for being able to understand metaphors and uses contractions. He doesn't have an Omnitrix as Ben wasn't really mentally with his family when Ren was a teenager, but Rook gives him a Proto Tool of his own.**

 **39.** **Baby Gwen is eventually found out to be an Anodite and is sent to Anodyne to live and train with Grandma Verdona at around 10 years old as Gwendolyn didn't have time to train her and she inherited Ben's disinterest in book learning so she couldn't teach herself. This is why he doesn't appear in the story after her birth. She originally looked like Ben but with amber eyes but created new body for herself when she was fourteen that looked more like Kai who was her female role model. Look on the Ben 10 wiki for 'Gwendolyn Tennyson (Ben's daughter)' and that's what she looks like now. She was there for Kenny's 10** **th** **birthday, but left to explore the stars with her Uncle Ben (aka, Young One, aka, Rook's brother) before the Time War began.**

 **40.** **Gwen didn't take in Devlin after he was found because she was a) busy, b) trying to save her relationship with Kevin, c) helping Kevin with his therapy, and d) knew that Ben would be a safer bet to raise Devlin than his real parents who were either workaholics or deeply traumatised.**

 **41.** **Rook did not want to leave Ben to go sort out the Null Void. Originally, Manny and Helen were going to leave, but they needed a Magistar there and Rook was the only one available at the time, until Kevin was stable enough to take over.**

 **42\. Rook didn't experience any of the negative effects of being apart from your soulmate (which are depression, paranoia and apathy) because he isn't human. Ben did experience these.**

 **43.** **Rook and Ben have a fifth child after the fic finishes. He is born nine or ten months after the fic ends and is called Zenon (aka, Zen) after the planet Ben first met Azmuth on. I was going to include him, but I cut him out since I'd already included two OC children in the fic. He may or may not still exist in my AU, but isn't in 'Written Among the Stars'.**

 **Sorry for deleting it before. I was agonising over whether people would like having this extra information or not. It was requested that this be returned, so it has.**


End file.
